Bats beyond Twilight

A three-part video series takes us on a tour of these enigmatic winged mammals















Share on Tumblr

A recent mystery has been finally solved about the bat. Scientists have long debated which came first in its evolution: the ability to fly or its faculty for locating objects by emitting and receiving high-frequency sounds, called echolocation. A recent fossil discovery dating back more than 52 million years has provided the much sought answer.

In the following three-part video series, Nancy Simmons, chair of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology and curator of mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History, lifts the shroud of mystery on these pariahs of the night, and shows us the actual fossil that provided the famous missing link.

 

 



1 Comments

Add Comment
View
  1. 1. candide 09:17 PM 11/24/08

    "pariahs" - Does ANYONE there have a working knowledge of English?

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Leave this field empty

Add a Comment

You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Click one of the buttons below to register using an existing Social Account.

More from Scientific American

See what we're tweeting about

Scientific American Editors

More »

Free Newsletters


Get the best from Scientific American in your inbox

Solve Innovation Challenges

Powered By: Innocentive

  SA Digital

Latest from SA Blog Network

  SA Digital

Email this Article

Bats beyond Twilight

X
Scientific American Magazine

Subscribe Today

Save 66% off the cover price and get a free gift!

Learn More >>

X

Please Log In

Forgot: Password

X

Account Linking

Welcome, . Do you have an existing ScientificAmerican.com account?

Yes, please link my existing account with for quick, secure access.



Forgot Password?

No, I would like to create a new account with my profile information.

Create Account
X

Report Abuse

Are you sure?

X

Institutional Access

It has been identified that the institution you are trying to access this article from has institutional site license access to Scientific American on nature.com. To access this article in its entirety through site license access, click below.

Site license access
X

Error

X

Share this Article

X